Drones / DFR

On September 9, 2026, the St. Paul City Council withdrew resolution RES 26-1399, which would have authorized the police department to apply for a $200,000 federal grant to add three docked drones. Council President Rebecca Noecker said the withdrawal was due to unanswered questions about data storage and flight locations. The legislative file shows 38 written public comments, most opposed. The department had launched three Skydio X10 drones on May 30; on September 7, one located a missing child in a pond. The department had not published the program’s cost.

Chula Vista Police paused a proposal to acquire Flock Safety automated drones, citing cost and privacy concerns. The deal would have cost the city $400,000 in its first year and $700,000 annually thereafter. The department had recommended Flock to the city’s Privacy Protection and Technology Advisory Commission in July. Officials said they are not moving forward with Flock’s automated drones for now and will keep using existing drones until alternatives are evaluated. The existing Drone as a First Responder program costs about $1.2 million per year with sworn officer pilots.

On September 3, 2026, a Boston Police Department drone crashed onto a parked Mazda 3 in Brighton, damaging its rear windshield and trunk and leaving the aircraft in pieces on private property. The crash occurred less than a week after the department began operating its Drone as First Responder program, which it had announced on August 28 in partnership with Motorola Solutions and BRINC. BRINC collected the wreckage. The car’s registered owner, a 42-year-old Brighton man, was not home at the time. Under 14 CFR § 107.9, the FAA requires remote drone pilots to report any accident causing more than $500 in property damage within 10 days. The program began operating in the final weekend of August.

The Minneapolis City Council voted 6-6 to reject a no-cost 75-day drones-as-first-responder pilot with Skydio, Inc. Council Vice President Jamal Osman, a co-sponsor, cast the deciding no vote after learning Skydio supplies equipment to the Israeli military and assists the Department of Homeland Security on immigration enforcement and surveillance. The pilot would have stationed drones at Minneapolis Fire Station 14 to stream video to 911 dispatchers and police officers. Osman said Skydio works with ICE, which he said terrorized his community, and with a genocidal military government. Supporters said the drones could improve public safety.

The ACLU Foundation of Northern California settled a lawsuit against Sonoma County over a code enforcement drone surveillance program. Under the settlement, Sonoma County Code Enforcement is barred from warrantless drone surveillance of homes or surrounding areas except in limited situations such as emergencies or property owner consent. Permit Sonoma must notify residents if their home was surveilled by drone, delete drone footage within 30 days of collection or investigation close, and stop sharing images with third parties unless required by law. The county must present a revised drone policy to the Board of Supervisors and produce flight logs to the ACLU for two years.

The Metro Nashville Police Department’s ‘Drone as First Responder’ trial program ended Friday, after operating for 30 flight days since May 26. Police spokesperson Brooke Reese confirmed the program ran on a loan basis with Skydio and without a signed contract. Councilmember Emily Benedict said the rollout involved ‘irregular timelines and murky legal footing,’ and that ‘It’s not right that taxpayer dollars are being handled this loosely.’ New legislation, BL2026-1498, would narrow the ‘temporary basis’ exemption that let the program launch without council vote, limiting such deployments to 30 days unless approved by resolution after a public hearing.

The Minneapolis City Council deadlocked 6-6 on a proposal to contract with Skydio Inc. for a ‘drones as first responders’ program. The program failed to advance, meaning the city will not move forward with Skydio as the vendor. Residents and activists raised concerns about privacy and Skydio’s ties to the Israeli military. Council Member Jamal Osman said he supported the program but couldn’t support Skydio and urged officials to return with a different vendor.

A Canadian truck driver, Gurdeep Gill, plans to sue the city of Temple, Texas, after a police drone crashed into his semi truck on June 2, 2026, on Interstate 35 at West Nugent Avenue, sending him to the hospital. The Cochran law firm filed a governmental notice of liability claim against the city on Gill’s behalf. The city has not released crash-related documents despite multiple records requests, and the Texas attorney general will decide whether the records must be released. A DJI Matrice 30T drone was put out of service around the time of the crash.

On March 31, 2026 the Denver City Council voted 7-6 to approve a one-year, $150,000 contract with Axon for 50 fixed license plate reader cameras, hours after Flock Safety finished removing its more than 100 cameras from city streets. The council president broke a 6-6 tie. Denver had ended its Flock contract after public backlash over privacy and revelations that the company could share data with federal immigration authorities. Opponents on the council argued the vote came before the city’s surveillance task force had written guardrails. Axon had severed its API integration with Flock on July 24, 2025. In July 2026 Douglas County approved a nearly $22.8 million Axon package replacing its 50 Flock cameras with 100 Axon Outpost cameras plus drones.

Athens City Council voted 5-2 to reject an expanded drone program for first responders on February 20, 2026. Residents opposed the proposal over civil liberties, immigration enforcement, cost, and surveillance. The city has an existing contract with Flock Safety costing $12,300 for license-plate scanning and camera access. Councilmember Michael Wood said he did not get elected to give up civil liberties. Council plans to revisit civil liberty protections for future drone deployments in committee.

In a 4-3 vote, the Portland City Council rejected a $45,000 police drone program. The proposal would have used drones for missing person searches, standoffs, and crime scene reconstructions, with search warrants required for private property and no facial recognition. Residents cited privacy and cost concerns. Police can still borrow drones from neighboring departments. The proposal will be reconsidered in December.

Brooklyn Park City Council voted 5-0 to add $4.6 million to its Axon contract for a Drone as First Responder program. The 10-year contract total is now $12.4 million. The program includes 10 Skydio drones housed in five docking stations that self-dispatch to reported crimes. Footage will be deleted after three days, and a transparency portal will show deployments. Costs are covered until 2028.

On April 8, 2025, the Scarsdale Village Board approved a $2.1 million contract with Flock Safety for automated license plate readers, live-view surveillance cameras and drone-as-first-responder technology, without public notice. Communications obtained by Drop Site News showed village contact with Flock dating to January 15, 2025. Residents began appearing at the April 22 board meeting, and a petition signed by 449 residents urged the board to pause the project and hold public forums. The village was notified in early July that its grant application for the project had been denied. On August 4 the police chief submitted a memo recommending against proceeding given the lack of federal funding, and the village cancelled the contract on August 6.

The Syracuse Common Council withdrew three drone-related expenditures from its agenda on March 19, 2025, after the police department failed to provide a governing policy. The items included two Axon contract renewals for software on existing SWAT drones and a new drone-as-first-responder program with Axon. Councilors said the department did not answer detailed questions during a Public Safety Committee meeting. The council previously approved $250,000 in November for the drone program. The council removed the items without voting, citing a lack of transparency and information.

In spring 2024, the California Supreme Court refused to hear Chula Vista’s appeal, affirming an appellate ruling that the city’s blanket refusal to disclose police drone video was too broad. The case began in 2021 when La Prensa publisher Art Castañares filed a public records request for drone footage. The ruling sets a statewide precedent affecting over a dozen California cities using or exploring first-responder drones. Castañares said, ‘Our lawsuit created a statewide legal precedent that improves the public’s access to police records that agencies have tried to shield from disclosure.’

Montgomery County, Maryland police requested $350,000 for a “Drone as First Responder” pilot program to send drones to certain 911 calls. At a September 12, 2023 community meeting in Wheaton, Capt. Jason Cokinos said the department faces a staffing crisis and needs technology to improve response times. Drones would be placed in Wheaton and Silver Spring, each covering up to a 3-mile radius, with pilots in Rockville. The department already has FAA permission to search for missing people and will seek permission to operate at 400 feet. Cokinos said drones will not use facial recognition or audio intercepts. Council member Natali Fani-González supports the program, citing a crime crisis in Wheaton.

On February 17, 2022, the ACLU and ACLU of Maryland reached a settlement with the Baltimore Police Department in a lawsuit challenging the department’s aerial surveillance program, under which planes equipped with high-resolution cameras operated by Persistent Surveillance Systems flew over the entire city at least 40 hours a week. The settlement followed a Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that found the pilot program unconstitutional. The settlement blocks the city from implementing a similar program in the future, stops police from accessing collected data except in connection with existing prosecutions, and requires the destruction of all records from the program.

Baltimore’s Board of Estimates voted unanimously Wednesday to cancel the city’s contract for aerial surveillance planes operated by Persistent Surveillance Systems. The planes had flown their final Baltimore flight on Oct. 31, 2020. Lisa Walden, a city attorney representing the Baltimore Police Department, said allowing the contract to continue would be ‘less transparent’ and that the city is working to delete 85% of collected data, retaining 15% for ongoing investigations. The cancellation came as the city faced an ACLU lawsuit over the program. Mayor Brandon Scott said preliminary reviews showed no significant difference between crimes investigated with the use of the planes and those without.

The Hayward City Council postponed a vote on the police department’s proposal to purchase four drones. City staff pulled the item after discussion about public vetting and privacy policy. Councilmember Al Mendall said the public should comment on managing such technologies. The police department estimated the initial cost of the drones and up to eight operating licenses at up to $50,000. The department had sought the drones for more than a year; a council infrastructure committee had recommended approval in October 2019 but urged more public discussion. The Alameda County Sheriff’s Department has used drones for five years; Union City and Newark also have drone programs.

Brookhaven, Georgia, approved funding for the Brookhaven Police Department’s UAS unit, making it the first city in the Southeast to adopt a drone first-responder program. The unit will consist of four drones deployed to witness crimes, document scenes, and provide aerial views. The program costs $83,700 in its first year plus $22,600 annually, funded by coronavirus relief funds. Police estimate drone response costs about 10% of dispatching an officer and patrol vehicle. Drones stream HD video to the department’s crime center and have thermal imaging. The department will develop policy preventing intentional recording where privacy is expected.

Chula Vista Police expanded its Drone as First Responder program, adding a second launch site atop Bayview Behavioral Health Hospital. The addition extends drone coverage to the 17 square miles of the city west of Interstate 805, an area responsible for 70 percent of 911 calls. Since the program launched in October 2017, drones have been dispatched 1,509 times and assisted in 224 arrests. The department said expanding coverage citywide would cost about $600,000, but no funding source has been identified. Officials cited privacy measures, including a publicly accessible website tracking drone flight paths.